Edd Straw's F1 2026 Mexican Grand Prix tier list driver rankings
It's the second week of Edd Straw's new tier list Formula 1 driver rankings format, as he takes a closer look at each driver's individual performance at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Considering nobody was flawless across the Mexico City weekend, who ended up in the coveted S tier? And whose mistakes tanked their rankings?
As usual, you can ask your questions about Edd's rankings by commenting on this post in The Race Members' Club - and have a crack at compiling your own Mexican GP tier list with our handy visual tool!
Max Verstappen raced with his usual incisive brilliance, showing strong pace and outstanding decision-making at the starts and in keeping Hamilton behind. On top of that, he was also central to Red Bull's recovery after a difficult Friday.
In many circumstances, the lock-up that ruined his last qualifying lap would have denied him a place in this tier, but the mitigating circumstances of traffic's contribution to that save him - even though the one-place grid penalty for Friday nonsense with Liam Lawson is also a small negative that in other circumstances might have bumped him to a lower tier.
Ryo Hirakawa's unique circumstances mean he has to be judged by what would normally be generous standards for the job he did after taking over Esteban Ocon's seat. He was flirting with reaching Q2 before hitting Alex Albon's turbulent air in the middle sector of his final Q1 run, meaning the gap to Bearman was exaggerated. He then drove a combative race, passing both the Williams drivers late on, for a well-deserved point once penalties were applied.
Liam Lawson recovered from setbacks to score points. He started from the pits but despite the red flag timing not helping him, he made steady progress then surged from 15th at the standing restart to take what was ultimately the midfield win after penalties were applied.
For Lewis Hamilton, this was a strong weekend save for his part in the Turn 4 moment where both drivers braked too late to make the corner. Had he avoided that, he would likely swap places with Verstappen. His first pole position since 2023 was also brilliantly-taken.
While Sergio Perez's race was compromised by a five-second penalty for speeding in the pits (by 0.2km/h), the team put that down to a sensor problem. But while Perez was a little disappointed by qualifying thanks to the set-up not being nailed, he raced superbly in the first stint before first losing time to a wheelgun problem then the later penalty.
Ollie Bearman's weekend was dealt a blow when he had to switch to the old ADUO1-spec Ferrari engine during practice. Despite that, he was rapid although a track limits violation meant he didn't maximise qualifying. He drove a decent race until he was rear-ended by Nico Hulkenberg through no fault of his own. In normal circumstances he'd have been ranked in a higher tier than his team-mate, but this ordering reflects the unusual situation Hirakawa was in.
While Kimi Antonelli clinched the world championship, he was under the weather both in terms of health and pace in qualifying and wasn't able to match George Russell. He drove a neat and tidy race, running long and only pitting just before the race was red-flagged, and earned the right to celebrate his title on the podium.
Gabriel Bortoleto was perhaps marginally the quicker Audi driver in terms of peak, but sitting out in FP1 and then problems in both FP2 and FP3 limited him to just three flying laps before qualifying. He then banged in the sixth-fastest Q1 lap, and dealt well with being "a bit blind" on set-up for race stints, with penalties turning 11th-on-the-road into eighth.
Fernando Alonso's weekend is difficult to judge given problems cut short both qualifying and the race, so on balance it's difficult to put him anywhere else other than the middle tier even though his pace looked strong enough to have climbed higher had he had a fair crack at it.
Lando Norris couldn't repeat his Q2 form in Q3 in the tricky-to-drive McLaren and ultimately was once again not as high up the grid as he could have been. He also perhaps could have picked off Leclerc in the final part of the race, meaning that he brought the McLaren home in a good position but not as high as it might have been.
Williams driver Albon inevitably struggled in the limited machinery. Team-mate Carlos Sainz had the better of qualifying, although Albon felt his final lap was one of the best of the season once you allow for traffic costing him all-important turbo speed when starting the lap, and had the edge in the race. However, the late position-loss to Hirakawa ultimately cost him a point.
While Arvid Lindblad had a hand in the clash with Oscar Piastri that led to his retirement thanks to his late move under braking into Turn 1, ultimately stewards held the McLaren driver responsible for the collision that followed. Lindblad showed good pace, especially in Q2, but felt Q3 was a missed opportunity.
Isack Hadjar wasn't happy with his messy qualifying lap, but still turned out a respectable laptime. He recovered well from his first-lap spin after contact with Russell, which stewards held the Mercedes driver responsible for although Hadjar should perhaps have left some precautionary space given they'd been side-by-side through Turn 5 before the clash at Turn 6. He raced decently despite luck not being on his side until he was rewarded with ninth by penalties for other drivers.
Sainz may have outqualified Albon, but that battle was swung by his team-mate's slow start to the lap thanks to traffic and he was slower for much of it. That pattern continued in a difficult race, although he wasn't far behind in the end.
Valtteri Bottas acted solely as a towing vehicle in qualifying given his grid penalty, but appeared to lack the edge Perez had. He had a tidy race until the front-left suspension let go.
Russell produced a superb Q3 lap that might have earned pole position with a suitable fuel load. However, his weekend turned on the deployment problem at the start, which was not his fault. Ultimately, though, he should have been more pragmatic when battling with Hadjar given the high tariff of a penalty that condemned him to finishing sixth. With proper power delivery at the start, he could have been a victory contender, which in many ways sums up his season.
Franco Colapinto was a step behind Pierre Gasly during Friday and Saturday, but a great first lap set him on a course to finishing a fine eighth on-the-road. However, his tier is lower than it would have been thanks to him not responding to the single yellow flag on the run out of Turn 3 that led to a 10-second penalty. A minor error - and not as egregious a one as Gasly's - but a very costly one.
Pace was not a problem for Charles Leclerc, who perhaps had a mild edge over Hamilton. However, the negatives started in qualifying, where he likely lost pole position to not nailing the tyre prep on his final run. He then made two errors in the race, the first at Turn 4 with his late-braking attack around the outside, which ultimately created the conditions for Ferrari to lose the race. The second mistake was arguably worse, in his desperation to attack his team-mate locking up at Turn 1 at the restart while trying to cut to the inside and suffering a flatspot he carried to the end of the race.
Like Alonso, Lance Stroll had limited opportunities to show what he could do, but he also had the chance to run throughout Q1, unlike his team-mate, and was still 0.164s slower.
Piastri's underlying pace was better than it looked and he recovered well in the race from a baffling Q2. That struggle has to count against him, as does the collision with Lindblad as while he can justifiably be unhappy with Lindblad's late move under braking and argue it forced him around the outside, it ultimately put him in harm's way given the racing guidelines and cost him a solid result thanks to the penalty.
Gasly had a good run through Friday and Saturday, qualifying decently but then losing ground to a deployment problem at the start. He raced well despite having to take an early pitstop, but getting himself a penalty for not respecting double-waved yellows was a careless error that ruined his weekend and cost a good result.
Hulkenberg's weekend was catastrophically undermined by a single mistake. He was caught out by the Turn 4 concertina at the restart while battling with Lawson and rear-ended Bearman. This was an understandable but avoidable error given the inevitable congestion on a restart lap, and undermined a weekend that otherwise would have put him in the top half.
